After more than a decade, a vision to build a giant cross in a remote Aboriginal community in Central Australia has become a reality.
First proposed in 2009 by residents of Haasts Bluff (Ikuntji), 230 kilometres west of Alice Springs, the 20-metre-high, multi-million-dollar steel monument was last month erected atop Memory Mountain.
The project has been spearheaded by renowned landscape photographer Ken Duncan, who was approached by community members to help realise their dream.
Through his Christian charity, Mr Duncan has raised millions of dollars from private donors to fund the cross, which locals say will serve as a spiritual meeting place and create job opportunities.
Vision comes to life
Local elder Douglas Multa said the vision first came to his uncle, Nebo Jugadai, one night at an Easter celebration at the base of the mountain — a site of historical and cultural significance for Haasts Bluff and surrounding communities.
Mr Multa said he felt emotional seeing the structure completed.
"When I first saw it we had tears in our eyes, we cried, because it's in our land — our country," he said.
"It makes me and my people proud to have something like this in our country."
He hoped the project would help create a prosperous future for the community through tourism.
"It's important because we have been struggling for many years to get job opportunities for the young people, so that cross is going to bring lots of jobs," he said.
"It will bring tourists in, they will put the money into this community, and whatever money we make will go back into the community.
"The way I see it, the young people have nothing, they are just bored, but with the cross, there is help and a future for them."
Engaging with culture
When senior members of the community approached Mr Duncan in 2009 to help bring their vision to life, the photographer at first did not want to get involved, but eventually relented.
"I thought they had a good vision, so I said, 'If you need my help, I will help you'," Mr Duncan said.
"I must admit I was thinking it would be a couple of four-by-twos [wood pieces] and a couple of bags of cement, but it evolved from that.
"They're family to me — they're my friends — they really showed me they wanted it, so that's why I wanted to help."
The final element of the monument is expected to be completed by the end of the year, when solar-powered LED lights will be installed to illuminate the cross.
Mr Duncan said a company — Memory Mountain Limited — had been established to support the development of the project, with a board made up of Indigenous people living in the surrounding communities, as well as Mr Duncan and his wife, Pam.
"It's not about my vision," Mr Duncan said.
"These people want to be able to have their own finances, to be able to buy their own cars, to own their own houses, and they want jobs for their kids, but they want jobs in community.
"It needs to have engagement of Indigenous people — that's what people want, and people want to understand the culture more."
He said there were plans to built an information shelter, toilets and camping facilities at the base of the mountain so the site could be developed into a small-scale tourist precinct.
Uphill battle
Over the years, the project has faced significant delays stemming from budget blowouts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and issues surrounding council approvals.
Mr Duncan unsuccessfully lobbied the Northern Territory government and Tourism Australia to help fund the cross.
Donors who made significant financial contributions were rewarded with signed memorabilia from actor-director Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ.
Gibson, who has been caught in anti-semitic and racist rants and accusations of homophobia, is a childhood friend of Mr Duncan and toured the Central Australian site in 2016.
Several other prominent Australians have supported the project, including veteran journalist Ray Martin, who sits on the board of Mr Duncan's charity Walk A While.
Further construction work on the track leading up the mountain will be carried out before it is opened to the general public.
